Written Answers Tuesday 19 December 2006

Scottish Executive

Central Heating

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29751 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure from the Central Heating Grant available to Glasgow Housing Association.

Malcolm Chisholm: Glasgow Housing Association has so far claimed £15,573,346 to contribute to the cost of installing 5,080 full central heating systems and 4,110 partial central heating systems in their properties.

Children

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the draft legislation to implement Getting it right for every child , announced by the Minister for Parliamentary Business on 22 June 2006, will be published.

Hugh Henry: I am pleased to announce today, 19 December, the publication of the Draft Children’s Services (Scotland) Bill consultation, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41238). The draft bill is intended to support the implementation of Getting it right for every child and it sets out Scottish ministers’ commitment to reforming the delivery of children’s services to place a greater focus on improving outcomes for children and to create a Scotland in which every child matters, where every child, regardless of their family background, has the best possible start in life. The draft bill is also available on the internet at: www.scotland.gov.uk/childrensservicesbill .

Domestic Abuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking, and will take, to address a 5% rise in domestic abuse over the last year.

Malcolm Chisholm: Reported incidents of domestic abuse have risen by 5% in 2005-06. While this is slightly less than the 6% rise in 2004-05, it is in line with previous years and may be attributed to more people recognising that all forms of domestic abuse are wrong and reporting such incidents to the police.

  The rise in the number of reported incidents can also be attributed to the highly successful publicity campaign, evaluation of which has shown that over 78% of the population have seen or heard of the campaign.

  As stated in the answer to question S2W-19517 on 21 October 2005, the Scottish Executive’s strategic approach to domestic abuse focuses around the themes of protection, prevention and provision. All three themes contribute not only to stopping abuse occurring but also to tackling repeat incidents.

  For example, we have committed over £34.5 million between 2000 and 2006 to support organisations working with women and children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse or other violence against women. We have piloted a domestic abuse court in Glasgow in order to provide a swift and effective justice response and support for victims. We support programmes that work with perpetrators to challenge and change offending behaviour and are developing accreditation of existing programmes. We are rolling out the domestic abuse training strategy to ensure consistent and high quality services from all public agencies. We continue to develop our awareness raising campaign to make clear the unacceptability of domestic abuse.

  We will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to end domestic abuse in Scotland.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Domestic Abuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that women in domestic abuse situations have access to civil legal aid, in light of reported "advice deserts" emerging throughout the country.

Johann Lamont: Hugh Henry announced in the Stage 1 debate on the Legal Profession and Legal Aid Bill that he had asked the Scottish Legal Aid Board to set up a network of employed solicitors to provide civil legal assistance. Ministers are pleased that the board has begun to recruit a solicitor to work in the Highlands and Islands to work with local organisations and women suffering domestic abuse.

  The bill contains provisions which will help enable the board to proactively address issues around the supply of civil legal aid or advice and assistance on matters of civil law. It will provide a grant funding power for the board to support the development or provision of such assistance and enable the Legal Aid Fund to be more flexibly used to meet the costs of assistance provided by solicitors employed by the board.

  It is important that these resources are targeted where they are most needed and where they will be most effective. We will be working with the board to develop processes to ensure that areas of need can be identified at both a local and national level.

Domestic Abuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to change the method by which solicitors who undertake civil legal aid cases, such as domestic abuse cases, are paid.

Johann Lamont: The Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2003 were introduced on 1 October 2003 as part of the on-going programme of modernisation of legal aid. These regulations introduced block fees for civil legal aid. There are no plans to remove the block fee system, which is the way civil legal aid will be paid for the majority of cases.

  However, draft amendment regulations have been discussed with the Law Society of Scotland (LSS) and the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) and are anticipated to be laid before Parliament by the end of 2006. These regulations will effect a number of changes that were directly identified to ministers by both the LSS and SLAB and will improve the level of reward for solicitors for work done, as well as providing greater flexibility in contentious family cases.

  Furthermore, Hugh Henry announced at the Stage 1 debate of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill on 7 September 2006 that he had asked the Scottish Legal Aid Board to set up a network of employed solicitors to provide civil legal assistance. Ministers are pleased that the board has begun to recruit a solicitor to work in the Highlands and Islands to work with local organisations and women suffering domestic abuse.

Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have commenced under section 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Elish Angiolini QC: As at 7 December 2006, there were 215 charges relating to offences under section 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 where the Procurator Fiscal had initiated court proceedings.

  Notes:

  
1. This information has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.
2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions commenced under section 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 have been for incidents that occurred in a community setting.

Elish Angiolini QC: The provisions of section 5(1) of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 apply only to incidents which take place "in a hospital or on land adjacent to and used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a hospital".

Energy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who represents it on the UK Government’s Coal Forum; what the Executive’s objectives are in relation to the forum; how many meetings of the forum there have been and at how many of these meetings the Executive was represented; what the forum’s remit is; how its work impacts on Scotland, and whether the Executive will report progress on its deliberations to the Parliament.

Allan Wilson: A pre-meeting of the forum took place on 9 October 2006 and the first meeting of the Forum took place on 14 November 2006. The Executive was represented at both meetings by an official from our Energy Policy Team.

  The Executive’s objectives for energy policy were set out in our response to the UK Energy Review: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/06/13161455/0.

  The coal industry in Scotland makes an important contribution to energy supplies, providing around 25% of the UK’s coal production. Scotland has significant coal reserves, and the on-going development of such reserves contributes to the security of UK energy supplies. But this development must be balanced with the need to protect Scotland’s natural environment. Coal extraction and consumption also leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions. The Executive therefore supports the development of measures that reduce carbon emissions from coal combustion – such as carbon capture ready high-efficiency coal technology, and co-firing coal with biomass. The Executive believes the potential for coal bed methane extraction should also be explored.

  The Coal Forum is working to ensure that the UK has the right framework to: secure the long-term future of coal-fired power generation and coal production in the UK; optimise the use of economical coal reserves, and stimulate investment in clean coal technologies.

  The forum is due to report its findings next summer. I understand that all papers considered by the forum and notes of its meetings will be published on the Department of Trade and Industry’s website.

Energy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it made any formal submissions to the UK Government in respect of its pending white paper on energy and, if so, when such submissions were made and what points were raised.

Allan Wilson: The Executive is engaged with the Department of Trade and Industry on various workstreams which will feed into the UK Government’s energy white paper. We have responded formally to the UK Government’s consultation on its proposed policy framework for new nuclear build. Our response has been published on the Executive’s website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/12/NewNuclearBuild .

Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional revenues it will receive from HM Treasury in each of the next five years as a result of the announcements made in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s pre-Budget report on 6 December 2006.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive received around £16 million for 2006-07 and 2007-08, as a result of the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report on 6 December 2006. The report also provided indicative 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) consequentials from settlements for a small number of Whitehall Departments, which will form part of the overall CSR2007 settlement for Scotland to be announced in summer 2007.

  The following table sets out the resulting allocations over the next five years:

  

 
2006-07
(£ Million)
2007-08
(£ Million)
2008-09
(£ Million)
2009-10
(£ Million)
2010-11
(£ Million)


 Pre-Budget Report Consequentials
 0.1
 16.0
 0.0
 0.0
 0.0


 Indicative CSR2007 Allocations
 0.0
 0.0
 21.8
 69.5
 176.9



  Decisions on the allocation of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 resources will be taken in due course. The indicative allocations for the CSR period will be considered as part of the Scottish Spending Review process next year.

Forestry Commission

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for which properties in Scotland the Forestry Commission has made an offer in each of the last five years, showing which of these offers were successful and the amount of each successful offer.

Rhona Brankin: The following table provides the information on properties for which Forestry Commission Scotland has made an offer since April 2001. The information is listed in date order.

  

 Name of Property
 Location
 Offer Successful Y/N
 Date Acquisition Completed
 Acquisition Price


 
 
 
 2001
 


 Ormidale Otter Road
 Glendaruel, Cowal
 Y
 23-04-2001
£30,000


 Land at Osclay
 Lybster
 Y
 26-06-2001
£2,000


 Coynachie Phase 1
 Huntly
 Y
 30-11-2001
£250,000


 
 
 
 2002
 


 Cow Wood
 Fort William
 Y
 02-03-2002
£30,000


 Glenhead Excambion
 Near Alyth, Angus
 Y
 02-04-2002
£22,901


 Excambion at Achlain
 Glen Moriston, Inverness
 Y
 02-04-2002
£68,904


 The Chinney Field
 Mabie, Dumfries
 Y
 20-06-2002
£30,000


 Hoish Access
 Aberfoyle
 Y
 29-07-2002
£50,000


 Coynachie Phase II
 Huntly
 Y
 28-11-2002
£250,000


 
 
 
 2003
 


 Land at Caolasnacon
 Glencoe
 Y
 07-01-2003
£1,000


 Drumbow 
 Airdrie
 Y
 31-03-2003
£115,000


 Cademuir Excambion
 Peebles
 Y
 10-04-2003
£3,000


 Hunterheck/Garrowhill
 Moffat
 Y
 01-05-2003
£10,000


 Glenloy Pinewood and land adjacent to Glenloy
 Kilmallie, Inverness
 Y
 27-10-2003
£17,080


 Native Woodland and land adjacent at Muick
 Kilmallie, Inverness
 Y
 27-10-2003
£15,420


 Coynachie Phase III
 Huntly
 Y
 28-11-2003
£250,000


 
 
 
 2004
 


 Ardverikie Excambion
 Laggan, Inverness
 Y
 13-02-2004
£95,000


 Lochend Farm
 Airdrie
 Y
 30-03-2004
£26,000


 Killean Excambion
 Killean, Argyll and Bute
 Y
 16-04-2004
£15,000


 Excambion at Benmore Gardens
 Dunoon
 Y
 10-06-2004
£1,800


 High Drumlanford
 Barrhill, Ayrshire
 Y
 23-08-2004
£280,000


 Craighead Woodlands
 Near Dufftown, Moray
 Y
 09-09-2004
£48,001


 
 
 
 2005
 


 Ladybank Excambion
 Fife
 Y
 07-03-2005
£36,000


 CSFT Woodlands
 Airdrie
 Y
 31-03-2005
£200,000


 Loch Katrine
 Aberfoyle
 Y
 31-03-2005
£2,000,000


 Gardeners Cottage
 Devilla, Fife
 Y
 31-05-2005
£180,000


 Corwar Strip
 Barrhill, Ayrshire
 Y
 23-08-2005
£1,860


 Jufrake House
 Peebles
 Y
 19-09-2005
£850,000


 Corwar Mains Farm
 Barrhill, Ayrshire
 Y
 25-11-2005
£17,400


 
 
 
 2006
 


 Tulliallan
 Devilla, Fife
 Y
 07-04-2006
£225,000


 Knockmountain Farm
 Kilmacolm
 Y
 01-06-2006
£821,000


 Cochnohill Lodge Farm
 Near Dumbarton
 Y
 20-07-2006
£680,500


 Auchow
 Rumster
 Y
 31-07-2006
£53,000


 East Grange Farm
 Blairhall, Fife
 Y
 06-12-2006
£2,530,000


 Cairnhill Farm
 Huntly
 N
 
 


 Lamloch and Drumjohn
 Carsphairn
 N
 
 


 Upper Tullochbeg
 Huntly
 N
 
 


 Milton of Glenbuchat
 Glenbuchat, Strathdon
 N
 
 


 Petty Farm
 Fyvie
 N
 
 


 Whytbank Farm
 Galashiels
 N
 
 


 Blackcraigs Farm
 Near Scone
 N

Health

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1304 by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 July 2003, how many patients resident in Scotland were treated in NHS facilities in England and paid for by Scottish NHS boards in each year since 2002.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the actual number of Scottish residents receiving treatment in NHS hospitals in England is not available. The following table gives the numbers of finished consultant episodes (FCE) Scottish residents have received in NHS facilities in England. An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider and one person might have several episodes within any one year or across years.

  

 Year Ending 31 March
 Finished Consultant Episodes


 2002-03
 6,513


 2003-04
 7,357


 2004-05
 7,928


 2005-06
 8,368



  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the Information Centre for Health and Social Care.

Health

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) knee-joint replacement and (b) cataract operations have been carried out in NHS Tayside in each year since 2000.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of operations and procedures undertaken as in-patients or day cases is published on the ISD Scotland website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/Annual_trends_in_surgical_procedures_hbt_November2006.xls .

  Knee replacement and cataract operations in Tayside since 2000 can be selected by using the "procedure" and "NHS Board of Treatment" menus within the file.

  Cataract operations can also be performed in an out-patient setting. From April 2003 the national reporting of surgical activity in out-patients has been required and ISD has been working with NHS boards to develop full compliance nationally. Emerging findings from the data collection for out-patient procedures are published in the data development section of the ISD Scotland website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4454.html.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of children born with foetal alcohol syndrome in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Foetal Alcohol Syndrome does not form a category that is routinely reported in Scotland. National data on babies born with congenital anomalies are collected centrally in Scotland using a range of administrative NHS and General Register Office databases. There will be an unknown level of underreporting as, while foetal alcohol syndrome is present at birth it may not be recognised until later and may not be recorded unless the baby requires subsequent hospital admission. Available information on babies born with foetal alcohol syndrome is contained within the following table.

  The data relates to single births in Scotland where foetal alcohol syndrome was detected at birth or during infancy, number and rates per 1,000 births by year of birth 1996 to 2005.

  

 Year
 1996
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
2005 (prov)


 Number
 4
 6
 3
 1
 4
 5
 4
 2
 10
 0


 Rate
 0.07
 0.1
 0.05
 0.02
 0.08
 0.1
 0.08
 0.04
 0.2
 0

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many families have benefited from its shared equity scheme in each year since its introduction and how many families it estimates will benefit from the scheme in each of the next five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The Homestake shared equity scheme can help individuals as well as families. The number of units approved for Homestake since its introduction in 2005-06 is as follows:

  
2005-06 - 1,008 units.


  We expect to assist around 1,000 households in the current financial year but do not have projections for future years.

  As part of an on-going evaluation, information on the composition of households who have benefited from the scheme is under analysis.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29750 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, why it does not feel it would be appropriate to provide names of officials involved in the joint team.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29750 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide details of the positions held in their organisations by each of the officials which have led to their involvement in the joint team.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is not standard Scottish Executive practice to publish names or information about the positions of those involved in official-level working groups.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29751 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure from the Repayable Grant available to Glasgow Housing Association.

Malcolm Chisholm: Glasgow Housing Association has so far claimed £160,150,000 from the Scottish Executive under the Secured Repayable Grant Agreement in order to support the delivery of its business objectives.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29751 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure from the Effective Contingencies Grant available to Glasgow Housing Association.

Malcolm Chisholm: Glasgow Housing Association has so far claimed £50,000,000 from the Scottish Executive under the Contingent Efficiencies Grant in order to support the delivery of its business objectives.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29751 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure from the Demolition Grant available to Glasgow Housing Association.

Malcolm Chisholm: Glasgow Housing Association has so far claimed a total of £18,255,994 from the Scottish Executive under the Demolition Grant. This expenditure covers the following:

  
Demolition of 2,716 housing units.
Home Loss and Disturbance payments for approximately 2,630 tenants.
Acquisition costs for 90 owner occupiers.
Building warrant fees.
Other acquisition costs.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29751 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure from the Reprovisioning Grant available to Glasgow Housing Association.

Malcolm Chisholm: Glasgow Housing Association has so far claimed £917,198 towards the cost of building 28 new units of housing in the Oatlands area of Glasgow.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29751 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure from the GHA Owner Occupiers Grant available to Glasgow Housing Association.

Malcolm Chisholm: Glasgow City Council has so far claimed £16,424,514 from the Scottish Executive under the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) Owner Occupiers Grant in order to provide financial support, on a means-tested basis, to 2592 owner occupiers to help them meet the costs of common works being carried out on their properties as part of GHA’s investment programme.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many outstanding applications for a council house there were in each local authority area in each of the last 60 months.

Malcolm Chisholm: The numbers of households on waiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for 2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series)  Housing trends in Scotland: quarters ending 31 March. This is available online in the publications section of the housing statistics branch reference site: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/PubHousingTrend .

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for the review of the legal aid system.

Johann Lamont: A great deal of work has been done over the last three years to review the legal aid system in Scotland. This has included the Strategic Review of Legal Aid, the Advice for All Consultation, civil legal aid reform in 2003, solemn legal aid reform in conjunction with the Bonomy reforms, the forthcoming civil Advice and Assistance reforms and summary legal aid reforms in conjunction with summary justice reform.

  We made a commitment to monitor the impacts of The Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2003 which were introduced on 1 October 2003. A Report prepared by the Scottish Legal Aid Board with input from, and in consultation with, the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Executive is currently being finalised and will be published soon.

  The changes appear to be working reasonably well. However, we can see that there are lessons to be learned from the monitoring report. These issues will be taken forward in consultation with both the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Law Society of Scotland.

  We will also look to review the feeing structures regularly to ensure that solicitors are adequately reimbursed for work necessarily undertaken.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an overview of the project to simplify civil legal aid assistance for solicitors.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Legal Aid Board has started a project to look at ways of simplifying civil legal assistance. The project will look at all aspects of civil legal assistance with a view to simplifying it for solicitors, applicants and opponents. The board intends to look at a wide range of issues, including: simplification of the financial eligibility assessment process for applicants; simplification and reduction of documentation required for the civil legal aid application process, and development of a training support strategy for solicitors. The board is currently consulting and engaging with the profession and other stakeholders to gauge what changes should be made to the system.

  We will be kept informed of these as they are developed. Such changes will be monitored to ensure as effective a system as possible for those involved.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on plans for publicly employed solicitors to be employed in areas where there is a shortfall of legal services.

Johann Lamont: The then Deputy Minister for Justice, Hugh Henry MSP, announced on 7 September 2006 that the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) would establish a network of Civil Legal Assistance Offices to provide assistance to the public on matters of civil law in areas where there may be unmet need. The Board are currently recruiting a Head Solicitor who will be involved in further recruitment and development of the service. It is hoped that an appointment can be made early in 2007 and the board will be carrying out development work in early 2007 to set up the network.

  The board already directly employs solicitors to provide advice and representation on criminal matters through the network of Public Defence Solicitors Offices. We announced on 20 October 2006 that the existing offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness would be augmented by the establishment of an additional six offices in Dundee, Aberdeen, Falkirk, Ayr, Dumfries and Kirkwall. This will provide additional competition and choice and will help address gaps in the provision of advice in criminal matters. Work is under way to recruit staff and identify suitable premises and we envisage that these new offices will open in 2007.

  In addition, the board currently runs five partnership projects where it employs a solicitor to work in collaboration with a local advice organisation. On 26 October 2006 SLAB announced the launch of a new project to provide specialist legal advice to clients with disabilities in the Lanarkshire area which adds to existing provision in Fife, Argyll and Bute, Inverness, and Edinburgh.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken with regard to the findings published in Advice For All: Publicly Funded Legal Assistance in Scotland? The Way Forward: Analysis of Written Consultation Responses in March 2006.

Johann Lamont: The Advice for All consultation, which was informed by the Strategic Review on the Delivery of Legal Aid, Advice and Information, ran from 17 June 2005 to 9 September 2005 and suggested a number of  short, medium and long-term improvements to the way publicly funded legal assistance is delivered. The consultation received 65 written responses and a series of focus group meetings was also undertaken to discuss some of the issues raised.

  A number of the suggested improvements, such as the development of grant funding and advice provision by non-lawyers, require changes to primary legislation. The Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill contains provisions to facilitate changes such as the transfer of the power to grant legal aid in solemn cases from the courts to the Scottish Legal Aid Board; the extension of the Advice and Assistance scheme to non-lawyers providing advice on civil matters in prescribed circumstances; the provision of grant funding to support or develop legal advice on civil matters, and the relaxation of the severe hardship test in section 19 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986. Other issues, such as greater use of the Public Defence Solicitors’ Office where appropriate, do not require changes to primary legislation and are being taken forward by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

  Further improvements to the planning and co-ordination of publicly funded legal advice, such as better assessment of advice needs or the possible establishment of a national co-ordinating body, will be considered jointly by the board and the Justice Department in the New Year.

Justice

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ministerial decision-making process was that resulted in the Executive deciding not to implement the recommendation in the report of the Working Group on Hate Crime that there should be a statutory aggravation for crimes motivated by malice or ill-will towards people based on their sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability, similar to that of sectarianism and racism.

Johann Lamont: This decision was taken following normal procedure in the context of collective Cabinet responsibility, namely, after full and careful consideration by all those ministers with an interest in the matter. The member will also wish to take account of my answer to question S2O-11201 on 23 November 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Justice

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its decision not to implement the recommendation in the report of the Working Group on Hate Crime that there should be a statutory aggravation for crimes motivated by malice or ill-will towards people based on their sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability, similar to that of sectarianism and racism.

Johann Lamont: I refer the member to the answer to question S2O-11201 on 23 November 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Justice

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Taser guns or other electroshock weapons have been bought by police forces in Scotland, broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. The purchase of police equipment, including firearms is a matter for the relevant Chief Constable.

Justice

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on purchasing Taser guns or other electroshock weapons and on training police officers for their use, broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. Chief Constables are responsible for making decisions on the best use of the resources available to them.

Justice

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have been armed with Taser guns or other electroshock weapons in the last (a) year and (b) month and on how many occasions, broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. Decisions to deploy armed police officers are an operational matter for Chief Constables.

Justice

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has had meetings with Taser International in the last five years, showing the dates and venues of such meetings.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has held no meetings with Taser International in the last five years.

Justice

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it reconciles the position taken by the Minister for Justice and the Lord Advocate on the benefit of applying racist and sectarian aggravations in respect of hate crime with its decision not to provide such protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and disabled people.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive deplores all crime, particularly that motivated by prejudice of any kind. The common law in Scotland allows the courts to take forms of prejudice into account as aggravating factors. We consider that the creation of further statutory aggravations would work against our wider objective of improving consistency in sentencing. We are at present considering carefully how that objective can be achieved, against the background of the recommendations contained in the Sentencing Commission’s recent report on the matter.

NHS Finance

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of weekly catering costs per patient was spent on (a) food and (b) catering staff wages in 2005-06, broken down by hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: Costs are only collected for catering supplies and total pays, so food costs can not be shown separately; income is netted off against the cost of supplies.

  Information on the proportion of total hospital catering costs, by pay and supplies, is shown in table 1 of Proportion of total hospital catering costs, by catering staff pay and supplies, in NHS hospitals a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41240). Expenditure on catering services includes both patients and staff and is net of any income generated. At some locations, catering services are provided by private contractors. The pay costs of contracted staff will appear in the cost of supplies along with expenditure on food and other catering supplies.

  The net costs collected are stated after recharging for non-patient catering. However, some NHS hospitals have a policy to subsidise staff meals, therefore the net costs used to calculate these proportions may include a subsidy element in some cases.

NHS Staff

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of total hospital cleaning costs per square metre was spent on cleaning staff wages in 2005-06, broken down by hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the proportion of total hospital cleaning costs accounted for by staff pay in 2005-06 is included is table 1 of Proportion of total hospital cleaning costs spent on cleaning staff pay in NHS hospitals a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41241). At some locations, cleaning services are provided by private contractors, the pay costs of these contracted staff will appear in the total costs of cleaning services and not in the pay element.

NHS Staff

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital-based specialist motor neurone disease nurses there are, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on specialist motor neurone disease nurses is not held centrally. NHSScotland does however employ nine Clinical Nurse Specialists in Neuroscience/Neurology which would cover those patients presenting with motor neurone disease.

  The following table highlights the deployment of these clinical Nurse Specialists.

  Table 1: Distribution of Clinical Nurse Specialists in Neuroscience/Neurology

  

 NHS Board
Headcount (Whole-Time Equivalent)


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway
 1 (0.8)


 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 2 (1.5)


 NHS Lothian
 2 (1.0)


 NHS Tayside
 4 (3.0)


 NHSScotland
 9 (6.3)



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  Further information on the statistics, including how the data is collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the Background Notes document on the Workforce Statistics homepage (www.isdscotland.org/workforce).

NHS Staff

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nursing staff who specialise in (a) Alzheimer’s disease, (b) multiple sclerosis and (c) Parkinson’s disease are employed in hospitals and in communities.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on nursing staff who specialise in Alzheimer’s disease is not held centrally. As at 30 September 2005, NHSScotland employed 1,065 Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) who’s remit includes those patients presenting with Alzheimer’s disease.

  As at 30 September 2005, NHSScotland employed 10 Multiple Sclerosis Nurse Specialists and 13 Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialists

  Further information on the statistics, including how the data is collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the Background Notes document on the Workforce Statistics homepage: www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Public Private Partnerships

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for the repayment of PFI/PPP project debts, showing the annual cash flow required to meet these commitments over the life of each contract, broken down by NHS board, local authority or other body that authorised the projects.

Mr Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28685 on 18 October 2006, for the information requested from 2006-07 to 2030-31. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Information on the unitary charge for PPP projects that are either operational or have reached financial close from 2031-32 to 2040-41 is shown in the following tables.

  The unitary charge is the amount paid by the public sector procuring body to the private sector consortium for the services it provides over the length of the contract. The services include capital construction, lifecycle maintenance and facilities management, and not just the upfront construction cost of the asset.

  The unitary charge figures provided relate to the full cost of the PPP projects and not just the cost borne by the Scottish Executive. Where the PPP project is the Executive’s own project, the Executive will bear the full cost of the unitary charge. Where the PPP project is that of another public body, the Executive may provide funding towards the unitary charge.

  

 Project Name
2031-32
(£ Million)
2032-33
(£ Million)
2033-34
(£ Million)
2034-35
(£ Million)
2035-36
(£ Million)


 Local Authorities
 
 
 
 
 


 Schools
 
 
 
 
 


 Balfron 
 
 
 
 
 


 East Renfrewshire 
 
 
 
 
 


 Glasgow 
 
 
 
 
 


 Falkirk 
 
 
 
 
 


 Fife 
 
 
 
 
 


 Highland 
 
 
 
 
 


 West Lothian 
 
 
 
 
 


 Aberdeenshire 
 
 
 
 
 


 Edinburgh 
 
 
 
 
 


 Midlothian 
 5.6
 5.6
 5.6
 3.0
 


 East Lothian 
 
 
 
 
 


 Aberdeenshire PPP2
 
 
 
 
 


 East Renfrewshire PPP2
 10.9
 
 
 
 


 Renfrewshire 
 19.9
 20.2
 20.6
 20.9
 21.3


 North Lanarkshire 
 27.8
 28.5
 29.2
 29.9
 30.7


 Argyll and Bute 
 6.9
 6.9
 6.8
 3.4
 


 Fife PPP2
 9.5
 9.6
 
 
 


 East Ayrshire 
 12.9
 13.2
 13.5
 13.8
 14.1


 Highland PPP2
 23.8
 24.1
 24.4
 24.7
 24.7


 Midlothian PPP2
 6.3
 6.4
 6.5
 6.6
 6.7


 North Ayrshire 
 14.9
 15.2
 15.5
 15.8
 16.1


 South Lanarkshire 
 45.1
 46.2
 47.4
 48.6
 49.8


 Stirling 
 16.6
 16.9
 17.4
 17.8
 18.3


 IT
 
 
 
 
 


 Moray Council - Integrated Education Management Service
 
 
 
 
 


 Highland Council - IS/IT Services 
 
 
 
 
 


 Waste Management
 
 
 
 
 


 Argyll and Bute Waste Management
 
 
 
 
 


 Baldovie Waste to Energy Plant 
 
 
 
 
 


 Dumfries and Galloway Waste Management
 
 
 
 
 


 Roads
 
 
 
 
 


 Angus A92 Road Upgrading
 9.9
 10.1
 10.4
 10.7
 


 Other
 
 
 
 
 


 Perth and Kinross Council Office Accommodation 
 
 
 
 
 


 Water and Sewerage
 
 
 
 
 


 Inverness Main Drainage/Fort William Sewage Treatment 
 
 
 
 
 


 Tay Waste Water Project
 
 
 
 
 


 Aberdeen sewage and sludge treatment 
 
 
 
 
 


 Moray Coast Waste Water Project
 3.2
 
 
 
 


 Almond Valley, Esk Valley and Seafield Sewage Scheme
 
 
 
 
 


 Levenmouth Purification Scheme
 25.3
 26.0
 26.8
 27.6
 28.4


 Dalmuir Sewage Treatment
 
 
 
 
 


 Daldowie/Shieldhall Sludge Treatment Centres 
 
 
 
 
 


 Meadowhead Sewage Treatment 
 16.2
 8.2
 
 
 


 Further and Higher Education
 
 
 
 
 


 Stirling college
 
 
 
 
 


 West Lothian college
 
 
 
 
 


 North Ayrshire college
 
 
 
 
 


 Health1
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway – Daycare and Maternity Unit
 2.3
 
 
 
 


 NHS Highland Easter Ross County Community Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - Bupa Care Homes
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Stonehouse Hospital
 0.9
 0.9
 0.9
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Hairmyres Hospital
 6.1
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Wishaw Hospital
 5.8
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Ferryfield House
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Ellen’s Glen House
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Findlay House
 1.1
 1.2
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian – New Royal Infirmary Edinburgh
 37.5
 38.5
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - HIS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - PACS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Tippethill
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - South Glasgow Hospital 210 bed DME unit
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow – South Glasgow Hospital HIS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow Yorkhill HIS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - Gartnaval Royal Hospital
 3.7
 3.8
 3.8
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - Stobhill and Victoria ACADs
 20.0
 20.0
 20.0
 
 


 NHS Tayside - small projects
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - Carseview
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside – Forfar
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Argyll and Clyde – Larkfield
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Ayshire and Arran – Crosshouse
 3.6
 3.7
 
 
 


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran - East Ayrshire Community Hospital Cumnock 
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Highland - New Craigs Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Grampian Kincardine Community Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Argyll and Clyde – Mid Argyll Community Hospital
 3.5
 3.6
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - Stobhill Forensic Unit
 3.2
 3.3
 
 
 


 Justice2
 
 
 
 
 


 National Roads and Transport
 
 
 
 
 


 M6 DBFO
 
 
 
 
 


 M77/Glasgow Southern Orbital Road (SE/East Renfrewshire) 
 19.9
 21.5
 21.4
 24.9
 1.7


 Social Work
 
 
 
 
 


 SCRA - Integrated Information System 
 
 
 
 
 


 Other
 
 
 
 
 


 Police Force Training Centre, East Kilbride
 
 
 
 
 



  

 Project Name
 2036-37
(£ Million)
 2037-38
(£ Million)
 2038-39
(£ Million)
 2039-40
(£ Million)
 2040-41
(£ Million)


 Local Authorities
 
 
 
 
 


 Schools
 
 
 
 
 


 Balfron 
 
 
 
 
 


 East Renfrewshire 
 
 
 
 
 


 Glasgow 
 
 
 
 
 


 Falkirk 
 
 
 
 
 


 Fife 
 
 
 
 
 


 Highland 
 
 
 
 
 


 West Lothian 
 
 
 
 
 


 Aberdeenshire 
 
 
 
 
 


 Edinburgh 
 
 
 
 
 


 Midlothian 
 
 
 
 
 


 East Lothian 
 
 
 
 
 


 Aberdeenshire PPP2
 
 
 
 
 


 East Renfrewshire PPP2
 
 
 
 
 


 Renfrewshire 
 21.6
 
 
 
 


 North Lanarkshire 
 34.1
 
 
 
 


 Argyll and Bute 
 
 
 
 
 


 Fife PPP2
 
 
 
 
 


 East Ayrshire 
 14.4
 14.7
 6.3
 
 


 Highland PPP2
 25.3
 
 
 
 


 Midlothian PPP2
 6.8
 3.5
 
 
 


 North Ayrshire 
 16.4
 9.7
 
 
 


 South Lanarkshire 
 51.0
 52.3
 53.6
 22.9
 


 Stirling 
 18.7
 19.2
 6.6
 
 


 IT
 
 
 
 
 


 Moray Council - Integrated Education Management Service
 
 
 
 
 


 Highland Council - IS/IT Services 
 
 
 
 
 


 Waste Management
 
 
 
 
 


 Argyll and Bute Waste Management
 
 
 
 
 


 Baldovie Waste to Energy Plant 
 
 
 
 
 


 Dumfries and Galloway Waste Management
 
 
 
 
 


 Roads
 
 
 
 
 


 Angus A92 Road Upgrading
 
 
 
 
 


 Other
 
 
 
 
 


 Perth and Kinross Council Office Accommodation 
 
 
 
 
 


 Water and Sewerage
 
 
 
 
 


 Inverness Main Drainage/Fort William Sewage Treatment 
 
 
 
 
 


 Tay Waste Water Project
 
 
 
 
 


 Aberdeen sewage and sludge treatment 
 
 
 
 
 


 Moray Coast Waste Water Project
 
 
 
 
 


 Almond Valley, Esk Valley and Seafield Sewage Scheme
 
 
 
 
 


 Levenmouth Purification Scheme
 29.2
 30.1
 31.0
 32.0
 19.2


 Dalmuir Sewage Treatment
 
 
 
 
 


 Daldowie/Shieldhall Sludge Treatment Centres 
 
 
 
 
 


 Meadowhead Sewage Treatment 
 
 
 
 
 


 Further and Higher Education
 
 
 
 
 


 Stirling college
 
 
 
 
 


 West Lothian college
 
 
 
 
 


 North Ayrshire college
 
 
 
 
 


 Health1
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Dumfries and Galloway – Daycare and Maternity Unit
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Highland Easter Ross County Community Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire - Bupa Care Homes
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Stonehouse Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Hairmyres Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lanarkshire – Wishaw Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Ferryfield House
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Ellen’s Glen House
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Findlay House
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian – New Royal Infirmary Edinburgh
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - HIS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - PACS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Lothian - Tippethill
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - South Glasgow Hospital 210 bed DME unit
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow – South Glasgow Hospital HIS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow Yorkhill HIS
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - Gartnaval Royal Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - Stobhill and Victoria ACADs
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - small projects
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside - Carseview
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Tayside – Forfar
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Argyll and Clyde – Larkfield
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Ayshire and Arran – Crosshouse
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Ayrshire and Arran - East Ayrshire Community Hospital Cumnock 
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Highland - New Craigs Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Grampian Kincardine Community Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Argyll and Clyde – Mid Argyll Community Hospital
 
 
 
 
 


 NHS Greater Glasgow - Stobhill Forensic Unit
 
 
 
 
 


 Justice 2
 
 
 
 
 


 National Roads and Transport
 
 
 
 
 


 M6 DBFO
 
 
 
 
 


 M77/Glasgow Southern Orbital Road (SE/East Renfrewshire)³ 
 
 
 
 
 


 Social Work
 
 
 
 
 


 SCRA - Integrated Information System 
 
 
 
 
 


 Other
 
 
 
 
 


 Police Force Training Centre, East Kilbride
 
 
 
 
 



  Notes:

  1. In health some of the smaller projects have been grouped together.

  2. Information on the unitary charge for Kilmarnock Prison is available in the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Annual Reports which can be found at http://www.sps.gov.uk/Default.asp?menuid=230.

  The estimated unitary charge for Addiewell Prison is currently commercial in confidence and SPS is unable to provide this.

  3. The M77/GSO is a joint project between the Executive, East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire Councils.

Renewable Energy

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reform the law relating to the requirement for wind turbines for domestic dwellings to have planning permission and, in particular, whether it will introduce a provision to have the same effect as Planning Policy Statement 22 on renewable energy policies.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is strongly committed to increasing energy from microrenewables such as rooftop wind turbines and solar panels and research was commissioned to consider the scope for extending permitted development rights to some micro-generation projects. The outcome of the research should be known by the end of the year and we will make progress as quickly as possible thereafter.

  Draft Scottish Planning Policy 6: Renewable Energy confirms not only the Executive’s support for local planning policies which incorporate microrenewables in new developments but also our intention to introduce a Scottish minimum standard. The views of the public have been sought on what this standard should be and responses are currently being considered. The intention is to issue a finalised Scottish Planning Policy document by the end of February 2007.

Rural Development

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support schemes are available to help build or modernise village halls and what level of funding is available from, and who the contact is for, each scheme.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive has no financial support mechanism targeted specifically at village hall building or refurbishment. The Rural Development Small Awards scheme, designed to promote social development on a small scale, has a maximum funding level of £5,000. The contact point is Ken Gray, Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY.

  For the future, we are considering how best to promote social and economic development in rural communities through the Scottish Rural Development Programme for 2007-13.

Sex Offenders

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S2F-2596 by Mr Jack McConnell on 30 November 2006 ( Official Report , c. 29901), what additional funding has been provided for local authorities to monitor sex offenders within their jurisdiction for individual cases where the expenditure would not have been foreseen in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority and indicating the amount (a) applied for and (b) awarded, and which local authorities had applications for such funding rejected.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is available only from financial year 2001-02 onwards and is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41270).

Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what grants were awarded under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 in 2005-06 for the provision of services to disabled people, broken down by organisation receiving the grant and showing (a) the purpose of the grant and (b) the amount awarded.

Lewis Macdonald: Table 1 gives details of the section 10 core funding grants awarded in 2005-06 to organisations which provide services to disabled people. Core funding grants are for running and headquarter costs.

  Table 2 gives details of the section 10 project funding awarded in 2005-06 to organisations which provide services to disabled people and outlines the purpose of the grant.

  Table 1

  

 Organisation
 2005-06 Grant (£)


 Adult Projects
 


 Communication Aids for Language and Learning (CALL) Centre
 18,096


 Enable
 32,500


 Partners in Advocacy
 24,000


 Update
 255,438


 Pain Association
 36,000


 Penumbra
 62,000


 National Schizophrenia Fellowship (NSF) Scotland
 82,000


 Deafblind Scotland
 19,387


 Scottish Accessible Information Forum (SAIF)
 80,021


 Children and Young People
 


 Capability Scotland
 50,000


 Sense Scotland
 48,340


 Contact a Family Scotland
 50,000


 Butterfly Trust
 42,000


 Care Co-ordination
 38,440


 Sleep Scotland
 36,600



  Table 2

  

 Organisation
 Purpose of Grant
 Award (£)


 Ace Advocacy
 The funding was for two part-time development workers to provide independent advocacy and identify gaps in service provision for disabled people across Scotland. 
 39,482


 The Link Centre for Deafened People
 Link provides support, advice and rehabilitation to late-deafened adults. This funding was for the recruitment, initial training, induction and salary of a Scottish Development Officer. 
 17,515

Water Fluoridation

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has contributed to the British Fluoridation Society towards its work promoting water fluoridation in each year since 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive’s funding of the British Fluoridation Society (BFS) is provided through section 16B of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.

  The amounts awarded since 1999 are:

  

 1999-2000
£8,000


 2000-01
£8,000


 2001-02
£8,000


 2002-03
£10,000


 2003-04
£10,000


 2004-05
£10,000


 2005-06
£10,000


 2006-07
£10,300

Water Fluoridation

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to fund the British Fluoridation Society and, if so, by how much and when this amount was decided.

Mr Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive currently provides funding to the British Fluoridation Society (BFS). In June 2005, the Scottish Executive agreed to provide a contribution, to core funding of BFS, for the following three years, as follows:

  
2005-06 £10,000
2006-07 £10,300
2007-08 £10,600.


  The BFS provides a scientifically based information service about water fluoridation to health authorities and boards; educational establishments; professional organisations; the media, and the general public. It continues to support the fluoridation activity of health authorities and boards throughout the UK, alongside maintaining links with international colleagues – in particular with the US Public Health Service and colleagues in European countries.

Water Fluoridation

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will divert any planned funding for the British Fluoridation Society to nursery and primary school projects teaching children to clean their teeth.

Lewis Macdonald: No. Funding for oral health initiatives such as nursery school toothbrushing schemes is provided from the new and additional monies allocated to the Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland.

  In 2006-07, some £8 million was provided for Oral Health promotion. In terms of key oral health targets, in the year ending March 2006:

  
Approximately 50,000 oral health packs were distributed for children in their first year of life – more than 90% coverage across Scotland;
More than 185,000 oral health packs were distributed to nurseries;
Over 90% of children in their first year at primary school received an oral health pack, and
The national target of 90,000 children in daily toothbrushing programmes at nursery was exceeded.